The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1887-03-02
S'iAt.E IMMORTALITY.
EXTRACTS FROM A MAGAZINE AR
TlCLE BY FANNY DAVENPORT.

/ The Conscientious Actress Has No Time,
! She Says, for Silly Nothings, Dissipa-
| patton Nonsense-Advice to the Pub
/ Iic-RacheIs Letter.
/ All arts, all professions are more generously
/ treated perhaps I should say have BEEN than
! the stage. It's detractors are legion. Few
seem to have thought for themselves upon
/ the subject; all appear cramped and envel-
Oped in the opinions Of others. Daily we
hear the question. rs the stage immoral."
and upon this subject have been tempted to
fly to the ink bottle and put upon paper my
humble opinions. Is the stage immoral2 Mol
Are those upon the stage immoral! Some
are, perhaps, as i'll every other calling or art
under the sun; but all to be condemned
for the sins Of the few! That the stage
breeds immortality l most emphatically deny.
That vicious person viii develop vice as
quickly i'll other professions | am not pre-
pared to say but that there is less real i'm
morality upon the stage than in many other
callings | have no hesitation in saving
Certain it is that if an actress works CON
scientiOusly during the time she is in the
theatre she has no time either for silly moth
mgs dissipation or nonsense. No one who
has won name and fame honestly and pos
sesses talent could retain either if her nights
were passed in dissipation and her days in
bed. We have living instances of the youth
and enduring talent in good, pure lives before
us to-day People say: How wonderfully
young she looks for her years." "Isn't she a
marvel" why, she is not day over 2Or'
When you hear these remarks, believe me.
they imply true praise, and bespeak a pure,
good life.
believe that why the stage is called i'm
moral is because those that call it so are
ignorant of it. If the foundation, progression
and gradual development OF the stage and
drama were taught in our schools, as other
branches Of history are notwithstanding all
the good that has been in ito the pupils,
and showing how its light has been steady
one, shining forth through all these years, en-
tightening, amusing and cultivating-if this
were done time would soon efface bigotry,
and the habit of condemnation would grow
less and less, and the stage would be judged
as other arts and callinGs are judged.
ADVICE To THE PUBLIC
Let the drama second the efforts of the pull
pit, and it viii be found an active and power
full ally in the cause of virtue
1t is the public who can do this. Let those
who are allpowerful resent vice and drive it
from the stage. As in your churches you
would not entertain guilt, so in the theatre
condemn it, not by SANDER and talk, but by
acts, which ever speak the loudest That the
stage has defects, crying Ones l frankly adj
nit; but they are not irremediable; they dis
grace, but cannot destroy the trunk.
How few to-day know of Rachel save as the
great actress! All think her to have been
selfish, misery, and Immoral! Selfshg
Listen to the last few lines of a letter written
by her, and now before me- ''Unfortunate
man! He leaves four children, and had the
courage or the cowardice to die. Find out
where the children are. I wish to send them
500 francs, the products of last nights
performance I feel sad and depressed
over it all" Again when she felt that
all hope was over, she says at the |
end Of almost her last letter: "But |
no, 1 will find my two guardian angels, !
my blessed sons hear their dear
voices calling me. L have been too long
away from their caresses their kisses, their
love. l do not regret the money lost the !
fatigue l have undergone; have carried nv
name as far as | could, and [ bring my heart
to those [ love dearly" She said of the
stage: MY calumniatOrs did not succeed in
making me immoral. God loved me. since
He gave me children. The justice of God is
greater toward weak mortals than the Justice
Of men. do not fear Him." Again: God
protects the brave, and He seems to have
created for me expressly a little corner I'M
named on any map, where can forget trou-
5leS and fatigueS-my home in my children's
hearts," These letters show us the woman.
owing and true.
There is as much, if not more, real honor
2urity, domestic happiness, and charity in
ne dramatic profession than even its best
friends in their most generous moments give
it credit for Were the good in it cited
Jftener, the little bad would soon sink into
oblivion. Believe me, no living soul is as
bad as it is reported, and when an unjust
cruel thing is said of an artist, let us not re-
peat it, but remember that the penalty of
public life is to be traduced. Let us seek for
ONE good thing the person has done or said,
"a by ventilating that, the memory of the
low viii be forgotten, leaving not the faint
81 bruise behind it.--Fanny Davenport. in
,roolllyn Magazine.